The Perspective of Stay-at-home Moms about Consent on Equal Gender Relations in the Muslim Family

Abstract

The concept of marriage in Muslim families in Indonesia tends to focus on the role of husband as the family leader and the main decision maker. Thus, the condition has caused imbalance and led to some family issues, such as, domestic violence, juvenile delinquency, and divorce. Mubadala (the theory of reciprocity) presents a more balanced and fair perspective in balancing gender relations in marriage. It highlights that men and women act as dignified beings to fully make use of all aspects of their life. In Mubadala, there are five pillars of marriage, such as, mitsaqon ghalidzan (having great (marriage) agreement), mu’asyaroh bil ma’ruf (treating one another with dignity), zawj (having spouse/partner), tarādhin min-humā (comforting one another and having consent), and musyawarah (having consensus in dealing with household issues). In this study, the researchers focus on exploring consent, for in some cases, consent is understood 'one way', from wife to husband only. The study aims to find out whether the concept of consent has been comprehended and practiced in the Muslim family, especially among stay-at-home moms.

The researchers started the data collection process by compiling a list of questions for interviews. Then, they collected the opinions of three stay-at-home moms who were selected purposively as the research informants. The researchers conducted online in-depth interviews and analyzed the results based on the informants' understanding of the concept of consent according to Mubadala and its practices.

Keyword : Equal gender relations, Consent, Stay-at-home Moms